Life Sketches

 This is a new project I've embarked upon, hoping to make sure I have all the same information (levels, amounts, quantities, qualities) for each of my ancestors. As one does, I started with myself. Trying to decide on which details to include has been challenging, yet fun. 

As a result of taking this on, new and more accurate information has been discovered: My 2nd-great grandmother Lucinda, wife of Jason Newberry, now has a last name, and parents, and a new family branch for me to explore; my 2nd-great grandmother Elizabeth Ann Zane Fox's death year has been corrected (how on earth was I a WHOLE YEAR off??). 

As the years have passed, more records have been added to the various repositories, which has allowed me to see their actual death certificates, as opposed to viewing only the transposed information. 

It's an ongoing process, isn't it? I'm so grateful that there just doesn't seem to be an end to genealogy projects. 

Photo of the Week: 10 February 2008

(Click on the picture for more detail)

The Dysarts, playing in the snow - driving through the Blues, maybe? Or in the Mt. Hood area?

This is from one of those funky old cameras that put two images on the same photograph. On the left we have my grandfather, Carl Byron Dysart Jr., with some really tall snow, and on the right, his parents, Carl and Ruth (Ackley) Dysart, looking more animated than I'd ever seen them (click on the picture to see their big smiles).

You know how those old pictures are - no one could smile and everyone was all dressed up and they always looked so... sedate. You would never know that a half hour later, they'd be changed out of their Sunday best and out slopping the hogs or something.

This is from the late 1930s-early 1940s era.

THAT'S IT

I think I'll start collecting Ackleys.

My ancestor, Alfred W. Ackley, fought in the War of 1812. He married Perthena Tillinghast and had four children, one being my 3rd-great grandfather Henry Tillinghast Ackley. Henry was a Union soldier in the Civil War and died en route home, on the train, in 1863. Awwww.

I am sick - SICK! - of not finding anything about Alfred. He died in 1841, so he didn't survive to see any censuses listing him with his wife and children... that's a huge mental roadblock for me. Yes, there are historical sketches and military records and wills and family Bibles, etc., but so much of that information is still on paper or microfilm, instead of online, and well, I guess I'm just lazy. Also, I don't have the cash to pay researchers to head to the library, look stuff up, make copies, and mail them to me. (That's why I love people like Carl, who do such great work for free - of course with Carl, I had all the information and he just had to find it.)

The thing is, other family members have tried to research him and have come up empty too, so my laziness is not the only problem here. The problem is that he seemed to have followed the advice of ecology-minded forest service rangers: "Leave No Trace."

So I'm thinking it's time to just round up every Ackley I can find (past a certain date), and maybe I can make a connection somewhere. With all the other clean-up projects I've undertaken, this will be a nice change of pace... I guess.

The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin Archives at Ancestry.com

... have been my latest online haunt.

I found them several years ago, when our family history centers were still affiliated with Ancestry.com. Mom and I spent a fun evening looking at old pictures and reading detailed descriptions of family weddings, Uncle Denton's speeding tickets, and Uncle Charlie saving a boy from a wild deer in Pioneer Park. At that time, the online archives included the years 1945-1954.

Yesterday, while writing a timeline, I stumbled upon them again. While some years are still missing, more recent archives are available now. Last night I found the wedding announcement for Aunt Nancy's marriage to Uncle Steve in 1973, and read about the day in 1971 when my grandparents received a phone call from my parents to say my brother was born; ten hours later, another call came from my uncle and aunt to say that my cousin Candace was born. Our great-grandmother Alice Keen called the newspaper to report it, and they were kind enough to print the story.

While I feel a little sorry for the must-have-been-bored-out-of-their-minds newspaper reporters, who were on hand to capture such events as Uncle Doug earning Gold and Silver Arrow Points at his Cub Scout pack meeting and great-grandfather Carl Dysart winning a free Christmas turkey, I'm grateful to them for doing such a great job in capturing these fun little life moments. I'm also glad my family spent so much time in Walla Walla, where no detail went unnoticed.

Timeline: Alfred Denton Ackley & Mary Lucinda Newberry

30 December 1874 - Denton and Lucinda married in Cold Brook, Herkimer, New York
27 May 1877 - First child Raymond Henry Ackley born in Cold Brook
28 December 1878 - Lucinda's mother Lucinda Newberry died; buried in Newport, Herkimer, New York
7 September 1879 - Second child Letha May Ackley born in New York (probably same area)
*1880 Census
6 August 1886 - Third child Claude Jason Ackley born in Dundas, Rice, Minnesota
17 July 1892 - Fourth child Ruth Irene Ackley born in Dundas
14 February 1900 - Letha and Arthur John "Jack" Johnson married (later divorced)
*1900 Census
17 June 1901 - Granddaughter Lourene Marjorie Johnson born in Minnesota (Letha & Jack)
14 March 1903 - Raymond and Margaret Ellen Clark married in Faribault, Rice, Minnesota
11 October 1903 - Lucinda died of a ruptured ovarian cyst in Walla Walla, Walla Walla, Washington; buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Walla Walla
22 June 1904 - Denton and Sarah E. Woggoner Cannon married in Walla Walla county
12 July 1905 - Granddaughter Mary Loretta Ackley born in Minnesota (Raymond & Margaret)
17 September 1905 - Grandson Wilbur Arthur Johnson born in Washington (Letha & Jack)
*1910 Census
24 November 1910 - Letha and Fred M. Robinson married in Multnomah county, Oregon
4 May 1911 - Ruth and Carl Bacon Dysart married in College Place, Walla Walla, Washington
21 February 1912 - Granddaughter born (living)
4 August 1913 - Granddaughter Letha "Irene" Dysart born in College Place (Ruth & Carl)
14 February 1914 - Claude and Lily Beatrice Yahr married in Walla Walla
24 July 1916 - Granddaughter born (living)
23 November 1918 - Grandson William "Denton" Dysart born in College Place (Ruth & Carl)
*1920 Census
8 November 1921 - Grandson Carl Byron Dysart, Jr. born in College Place (Ruth & Carl) (pictured at left; Carl Sr. and Ruth at right)
29 March 1923 - Denton's second wife Sarah E. Woggoner Cannon Ackley died; buried in Walla Walla
27 April 1923 - Granddaughter born (living)
29 May 1929 - Denton and Mrs. Margaret A. Jackson Taylor married in Walla Walla county
*1930 Census
20 July 1932 - Denton's third wife Margaret A. Jackson Taylor Ackley died in Walla Walla
7 December 1935 - Denton died in Walla Walla; buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Walla Walla

Carl Bacon Dysart & Ruth Irene Ackley

Married 4 May 1911 in College Place, Walla Walla, Washington

JASON NEWBERRY, WHERE ARE YOU?

I am so sick of not finding anything about the man I believe is my grandfather, Jason Newberry, that I'm putting something online with his name on it, just so I can Google him and at least THIS will pop up.

He was born about 1823 in New York state. He married Lucinda, born 1821 in Massachusetts. They had three daughters that I know of, Fannie, Mary Lucinda (my great-great grandmother), and Ida J. He died 12 February 1870 and was buried in the Swezey-Bromley Cemetery in Newport, Herkimer, New York. Lucinda died 28 December 1878 and was buried with him.

In the 1860 census, I found him with his family (I was looking for a little 8-year-old girl named Mary Lucinda and this was the family that matched). They were living in Russia, Herkimer, New York, and a woman named Polly Newberry, 69 years old, was living with them. I believe she was Jason's mother.

I googled his name and found the Swezey-Bromley Cemetery webpage. It gave me their death dates and burial places, along with more Newberrys, including whom I believe to be Jason's parents and other possible family members. Polly Newberry was there, wife of Samuel, and her information matches the Polly Newberry I found with Jason and the family in the 1860 census. I believe Samuel and Polly are Jason's parents.

I called the Newport town clerk today, and she put me in touch with the Herkimer Genealogical Society. I spoke with Barb C., and she will be doing some research for me this week. I didn't ask her to - she offered. That was nice. I was prepared to have her send me copies, and have me pay for them, at least. That might still be the case - I'll find out in about a week. In the meantime, she has my address and email address, and she'll be looking for whatever she can find about this family.

OK, he's out there in Internetville. If someone else googles his name, hopefully they'll find this and feel happy.